I’m in Kirkland WA right now, visiting with my friends at The Green Car Company, who BTW, have some gasoline smart cars in stock, available for immediate delivery. Oh, and BTW, we should all learn by next Friday if Mercedes-Benz is for once and for all going to officially bring the smart car to the United States in 2007. Rumour has it Penske will be the distributor. The smart factory in Hambach France is going to be shutdown for several months for retooling - and later this year, production of the next generation smart car will begin. There have been reports of vehicle testing in Arizona about a month ago.

I’ve had a chance this afternoon to put all my fuel receipts together. You can view a copy of the spreadsheet by clicking here. I’ve made note of the tire PSI, speed, and the biodiesel % that I was running with.

I’ll be spending a few days on Whidbey Island now with some friends. More updates to the site are coming.

Contact Keith by e-mail.

Here’s the final round of pictures from my June trip to Saskatchewan.

The Blue Willow Motel in Wadena is very economical - you get free long distance, breakfast and wireless internet for about $45 per night.

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Contact Keith by e-mail.

During my September 2005 100 MPG Challenge, where I travelled from Victoria to St Johns and Labrador, I was able to achieve better than 100 mpg (imperial) on five different occasions.

I knew I would be coming back to Saskatchewan this spring/summer to try and beat my previous fuel economy record of 113 mpg (imperial).

I wanted to run on biodiesel, and achieve 100 mpg (US), which is 120 mpg (imperial). That would require a 6% improvement. My gut feeling was that I could do it given the same road/weather conditions, with less cargo, and a few more PSI in the tires.

With all this in mind, I ran my tank down to 1.0 L remaining Tuesday morning as I drove to Birch Hills, SK, just outside of Prince Albert. When I arrived there, I stored my luggage in a friend’s shed, put 20 litres of soy based biodiesel in the tank, and topped up with petroleum diesel at the local Coop. The PSI in the tires had already been set to 43 (cold) in the morning.

I set out for Yorkton, but by the time Wadena came on the horizon, I knew the run was failing. And sure enough, 215 kms on 6.747 litres was way short of the goal. I turned around and headed back to Birch Hills - trying again, this time without using cruise control… but once again, I was way short - 199.3 kms on 6.370 litres. The winds were not in my favour.

With my luggage reloaded, I went back to Wadena again. Attempt # 3 was yet another failure - 204.4 kms on 6.674 litres. I began to wonder if the 40-80% biodiesel blend was contributing to the low mileage. Surely I could get a better number than 88.3 mpg (imperial)? (618.7 kms on 19.791 L = 3.2 L/100km)

I decided to wait in Wadena and see which way the wind was blowing. A call to ‘Walter from Wadena’ revealed the answer - and by Wednesday morning, I knew I had to get to Yorkton, refill, and head north-west again in order to have any chance. Luggage again was placed in the car. I then had a leisurely morning, taking in breakfast and some gab with Walter… (more…)

Alan Thompson - fellow smart car owner in Melfort:

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7:45 pm, Wadena, SK

Excellent wind conditions today, blowing from the south-east, allowed me to accomplish my goal of beating 100 miles per US gallon.

I departed Yorkton, SK at approx 4 pm and made a near perfect 81 kmh trip to Wadena, passing through Canora on hwy 9, and then through Buchanan, Rama, and a few other small towns on Hwy 5.

As per the GPS, the trip was 151.13 km. I filled at the Wadena Coop - twice in fact - to make sure the fuel level was as full as it could be… I filled 3.104 litres and then another 0.273 litres - and each time painstakingly made sure there was no foam. Even 5 ml overflowed. I was brutally AR on this, more than ever before - the Coop attendants were curiously dumbfounded as to why, but nevermind. :-)

151.13 km on 3.377 litres works out to 44.75 kms to a litre, or 2.23 L/100km.

That in turn works out to 126 mpg (imperial), and for my US friends, 105 mpg (US).

I had dwindled the B80 biodiesel I ran with yesterday to approx B20. I will recap this in detail later. Temperature today was 24 to 26 celcius.

Also - I did make this trip with all of my luggage and extra biodiesel. Based on a government scale yesterday in Melfort, let’s call that 80 kgs, or 170 lbs, minimum, probably more, as I picked up another 15 litres of biodiesel today at Foam Lake. The car and luggage scaled in at 810 kgs yesterday, and I’m 110 kgs.

I have some pictures to post of course, but for now, I’m going to shower and get a hot meal. A storm has also moved in, and lightening with it.

Got thinking tonight about Percy Schmeiser, the Saskatchewan farmer that took on Monsanto. Different subject altogether. But Canola was the crop. And wouldn’t you know it, I’m right in the heart of Canola country.

Milligan Bio-Tech has a biodiesel plant at Foam Lake, a mere 50 kms away from where I am staying. I might try and get a tour.

The Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission has some great online biodiesel resources and studies if you are interested. You might also want to check out the biodiesel page at the Canola Council of Canada website - there seems to be some good info there.

I’m in Wadena right now, and despite some very careful driving, mileage has not been stellar. Winds have been uncooperative - seems I am at 90 mpg imperial on the B80 I’ve been running, though I am dwindling that down to B40 through various top-ups. I did not go through to Yorkton, as I could tell I was falling short when the first blob disappeared at 200 km. Instead I went back to Birch Hills near Prince Albert, and then back to Wadena, this time with my cargo. I was running 43 PSI cold, BTW.

I’ve got a fun filled day tomorrow, and we’ll see where the roads go. More to follow when I get a chance.

Will anyone get the irony of these two?

Here’s your hint!

Don’t ask!

And they were closed it appears…

I am built for comfort, not built for speed…

Aliens II

It’s Monday evening, and I am at a Bed & Breakfast in Prince Albert. The internet connection is sketchy – so I can’t upload all my pictures, or report on everything I would like.

I am going to make my first attempt at 100 mpg US in the morning – driving approx 250 miles to Yorkton. I should arrive there by 3 pm, so that’s the soonest I’ll be able to post any results…

The morning was spent at Fort Battleford, taking in a guided tour. Afterwards I made my way through small town Saskatchewan, trying to avoid getting swallowed up by potholes on Hwy 12 and elsewhere. Seriously - there were sections that would have taken the front end of the car apart.

Driving slower today yielded close to a 3.6 L/100km tank - after bombing miserably on the Calgary to Kindersley run - which was 4.9 - though I was going 110+ whenever possible. The Revelstoke to Calgary tank turned out to be 4.2 - including local driving and the short trip to Cochrane.

It’s Sunday morning now, and I’m revising my Saskatchewan plans based on the weather forecast. I’ll need the sunshine…

Saturday was fairly relaxed. I took 2/3 of the Campbell’s geocaching in the morning. For the afternoon, seven or eight smarts and their owners hung out for a few hours and went to Cochrane.

I attended a really great service at Foothills Alliance in the evening, and then enjoyed homemade pizza and played a pretty cool game called Exploration. BTW - the Hebrew word Yada means ‘acknowledge’ - ie: ‘I know’… We also listened to Iona’s The Book of Kells cd that I had brought along - which is interesting for the fact that one of the Campbell’s daughters created a Celtic design for their car.

I’ll be heading to The Battlefords today and will likely camp. Monday I’ll be a tourist for awhile, and then it’s off to Prince Albert. Tuesday will be my first attempt to get 100 miles per US gallon, as l head for Yorkton. After that, I’ll improvise as need be. I’ll be passing through Moose Jaw/Caronport on the return trip, and will likely hit Calgary and/or Lethbridge by Saturday. At this point, I’m planning to take the Crowsnest back to BC, rather than hwy 1.